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Clash Of The Tech Titans: Apple, Google And Amazon Duke It Out In Mobile-Device Market (Forbes)
It sounds like the opening of a joke: There’s a computer maker, a retailer and a digital advertiser. But don’t wait for a punch line; these guys are not kidding. Three starkly dissimilar companies—Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google (GOOG)—have become key players in the mobile-device market. And they have grown so big so fast that they bump each other like freighters maneuvering in a bathtub. Both Apple and Google are rated Focus List Buy and Long-Term Buy in. Amazon.com is rated C (below average).

Apple to develop digital wallet in next year or two, says analyst (CNET)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may finally step its toes into the digital wallet world over the next year or two, forecasts Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. The analyst believes a payment option for iOS users may launch with the iPhone 6 in the first half of 2014. Apple will use a technology other than or in addition to near-field communications (NFC), but its system will work with existing mobile payment solutions. The company already has one major asset ripe for a digital wallet system — its users.

Apple’s iRadio service completes its ‘2013, innovation on steroids’ agenda (Computerworld Blogs)
The Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rumor mill is in overdrive as it seems all the eggs in the company’s barn are beginning to hatch. This week has seen news on new iPhones, iPads, the Apple television, “cheap” iPhone, iOS 7 and, now on the playlist — Apple’s iRadio service seems close to launch. What is iRadio? In brief it’s a Pandora/Spotify-like ad-supported music streaming service that should enable iTunes users to hit a button and listen to accurately created playlists of music by artist, period, or genre.

Facebook and Apple: it’s complicated (GigaOM)
iOS is one of the most popular ways to use the Facebook app on mobile devices. Facebook sharing is also integrated into iOS and OS X. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Facebook have a good thing going together. However, things may not be quite as cozy as they seem; the relationship could even be on the rocks if you read between the lines of what Mark Zuckerberg had to say on Thursday.

Apple’s patent suit loss to VirnetX forces VPN behavior changes (Apple Insider)
Apple announced this week that it would be changing the behavior of VPN ON Demand for iOS devices using iOS 6.1 and later. Those devices with VPN On Demand configured to “Always” will instead behave as if they were configured for “Establish if needed.” VPN On Demand connections will only be established if a device cannot resolve the DNS name of a host.

Apple: It’s Time to Start Believing (And Buying!), Says Jackson (Yahoo! Finance)
The hits just keep coming for Apple (AAPL). In the last five days the company has been downgraded by Goldman Sachs (GS) and seen Best Buy (BBY) open Samsung stores within a store. In the off chance shareholders weren’t insulted enough, word leaked that Apple’s new HQ would cost almost $2 billion more than Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) spent on R&D in 2012. The deluge of bad news has dropped the stock by more than 5% this week but also brought out hoards of ironic buyers getting long the stock precisely because others are most skeptical. Count Eric Jackson of Ironfire Capital among the Apple bulls.